Florence Welch, in full Florence Leontine Mary Welch (born August 28, 1986, London, England) British singer-songwriter who, as the lead singer of Florence + the Machine, won popular success and critical acclaim beginning in 2009 with soaring vocals and a captivating theatrical stage presence.

Florence Welch, 2012.

Photoshot/Everett Collection

Welch was the oldest of three children in an upper-middle-class family in south London. Her father was a British advertising executive whose fondness for punk informed some of Welch’s earliest musical memories. Her mother, an American professor of Renaissance studies, exposed Welch to the art and music of that era. Those influences would later be expressed quite dramatically in Florence + the Machine’s music videos and live shows. As a child Welch performed at family functions and at school plays, and by her teenage years she had become the lead vocalist of a local band called the Toxic Cockroaches. While attending Camberwell College of Arts, she joined Ashok, a group that fused Gypsy (Rom) jazz with hip-hop, and was soon signed to a recording contract.

She left the group shortly afterward, but in December 2006 an impromptu performance of the Etta James classic “Something’s Got a Hold on Me” in a nightclub restroom won Welch a new manager as well as a host of new opportunities. She and art-school friend Isabella Summers formed Florence + the Machine in 2007, and the pair were soon opening for the Brooklyn-based electronic duo MGMT. Welch’s lyrics and vocals drew comparisons to Kate Bush and Sinéad O’Connor, and early singles such as “Kiss with a Fist” and “Dog Days Are Over” earned effusive praise from music journalists. Florence + the Machine won the critics’ choice award at the 2009 Brit Awards ceremony, and the group’s debut album, Lungs (2009), topped the U.K. charts. Florence + the Machine collected the award for the British album of the year at the 2010 Brit Awards, and a spellbinding performance at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards introduced Welch to an American audience and propelled Lungs to number 14 on the Billboard 200 chart. Florence + the Machine received a 2011 best new artist Grammy nomination, and the fashion industry found a new muse in Welch. Designer Frida Giannini cited Welch as the inspiration for Gucci’s fall and winter 2011 collection, and in October 2011 Karl Lagerfeld selected her to perform on the catwalk at the unveiling of Chanel’s spring and summer 2012 collection.

Florence + the Machine’s second album, Ceremonials (2011), was released to high expectations and debuted at number one in the U.K. Powered by the anthemic single “Shake It Out,” Ceremonials reached number six on the Billboard 200 chart. Welch’s fashion credentials were cemented when she was featured on the cover of the January 2012 issue of the British edition of Vogue. Florence + the Machine scored its first U.S. number one when the group’s third album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart in June 2015.

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